It started as a dream—a redheaded warrior king fought and died for his men centuries ago. The dream would lead archaeologist Annja Creed to the king’s undisturbed corpse…and one of England’s greatest mythical artifacts.

Deep in an archaeological dig in England’s Midlands, Annja locates a braided necklace around a mummified king’s neck. Made of an unusual material—not quite obsidian, but gleaming with multihued color—the torc is an astonishing find. But someone knows exactly what the torc means. And he will do anything to get his hands on the Tear of the Gods. When the dig is compromised and innocent archaeologists are slain, even Annja herself is left for dead. Now she is fleeing for her life, not knowing the terrifying truth about the relic she risks everything to protect—or the devastating consequences should it fall into the wrong hands….

In Jim Butcher’s “Curses” Harry Dresden investigates how to lift a curse laid by the Fair Folk on the Chicago Cubs. In Patricia Briggs’ “Fairy Gifts,” a vampire is called home by magic to save the Fae who freed him from a dark curse. In Melissa Marr’s “Guns for the Dead,” the newly dead Frankie Lee seeks a job in the afterlife on the wrong side of the law. In Holly Black’s “Noble Rot,” a dying rock star discovers that the young woman who brings him food every day has some strange appetites of her own.

Featuring original stories from 20 authors, this dark, captivating, fabulous and fantastical collection is not to be missed!

Table of Contents:

Curses by Jim Butcher
How the Pooka Came To New York City by Delia Sherman
On the Slide by Richard Bowes
The Duke of Riverside by Ellen Kushner
Oblivion by Calvin Klein by Christopher Fowler
Fairy Gifts by Patricia Briggs
Picking up the Pieces by Pat Cadigan
Underbridge by Peter S. Beagle
Priced To Sell by Naomi Novik
The Bricks of Gelecek by Matthew Kressel
Weston Walks by Kit Reed
The Projected Girl by Lavie Tidhar
The Way Station by Nathan Ballingrud
Guns for the Dead by Melissa Marr
And Go Like This by John Crowley
Noble Rot by Holly Black
Daddy Long Legs of the Evening by Jeffrey Ford
The Skinny Girl by Lucius Shepard
The Colliers’ Venus by Caitlín R. Kiernan
King Pole, Gallows Pole, Bottle Tree by Elizabeth Bear

Datlow (Digital Domains) adds to her already lengthy list of impressive anthology credits with this compilation of 20 original stories from some of the best-known names in urban fantasy. For newbies, her short but informative intro clearly lays out the boundaries of these works, which combine “the often-dark edge of city living with enticing worlds of magic.” Jim Butcher’s “Curses,” a humorous short story linked to his Dresden Files series, is a nice change of pace from his increasingly grim novels. Ellen Kushner’s “The Duke of Riverside” gives the origins of the romance between Alec and St. Vier, heroes of her novel Swordspoint. Lavie Tidhar’s “The Projected Girl,” set in Haifa, Israel, features a boy’s search for the truth behind a legendary magic trick. Other notable contributors include Lucius Shepard, Patricia Briggs, and Melissa Marr. –Publishers Weekly

This anthology of short fiction affords a superb sampling of urban fantasy, that popular sf/fantasy subgenre defined in the book’s introduction (which, in all of three pages, is a welcome and helpful, to say nothing of articulate, definition of this subgenre) as a combination of the “often-dark edge of city living with enticing worlds of magic”—with an urban landscape being absolutely crucial to the story. To put it another way (as also expressed in the introduction, that is), “where the story takes place should matter, in some way, to the story.” –Booklist starred review

Naked City definitely contains some of the best urban fantasy stories which I have had the pleasure of reading in a long while, and I fully expect that this anthology will be showing up in the nomination lists for next year’s round of awards. –The Green Man Review

Exiled exorcist Lucian Negru deserted his lover in Hell in exchange for saving his sister Catarina’s soul, but Catarina doesn’t want salvation. She wants Lucian to help her fulfill her dark covenant with the Fallen Angels by using his power to open the Hell Gates. Catarina intends to lead the Fallen’s hordes out of Hell and into the parallel dimension of Woerld, Heaven’s front line of defense between Earth and Hell.

When Lucian refuses to help his sister, she imprisons and cripples him, but Lucian learns that Rachael, the lover he betrayed and abandoned in Hell, is dying from a demonic possession. Determined to rescue Rachael from the demon he unleashed on her soul, Lucian flees his sister, but Catarina’s wrath isn’t so easy to escape. In the end, she will force him once more to choose between losing Rachael or opening the Hell Gates so the Fallen’s hordes may overrun Earth, their last obstacle before reaching Heaven’s Gates.

“In her debut novel, Miserere: An Autumn Tale, Teresa Frohock has succeeded at creating that all-too-rare phenomenon among first-time story-tellers: a mature prose style combined with a fully realized vision. Her ‘woerld’ will completely immerse the reader with its compelling and striking visuals, fascinating details and thrilling plot turns. The book is almost impossible to put down and it’s harder yet not to actually believe that what Ms. Frohock imagined isn’t terribly real—even if some of us haven’t found an entrée into the parallel existences she’s meticulously crafted. Studded with magic, demons, and terror run amok, dark fantasy and horror fans alike will walk away from Miserere feeling they’ve found a writer they not only admire, but are anxious to revisit soon in her future works.” — Lisa Mannetti, Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of The Gentling Box and Deathwatch

“Miserere is about redemption, and the triumph of our best impulses over our worst. It’s also about swords, monsters, chases, ghosts, magic, court intrigues and battles to the death. It’s also (and this is the important part) really, really good.” –Alex Bledsoe, author of Dark Jenny and The Sword-Edged Blonde

A doctor makes a late-night emergency call to an exclusive California riding school; a professor inherits a mysterious vase… and a strange little man; a struggling youth discovers canine horrors lurking beneath the streets of Albany; a sheriff ruthlessly deals with monstrosities plaguing his rural town; a pair of animal researchers makes a frightening discovery at a remote site; a sweet little girl entertains herself… by torturing faeries; a group of horror aficionados attempts to track down an unfinished film by a reclusive cult director; a man spends a chill night standing watch over his uncle’s body; a girl looks to understand her place in a world in which zombies have overrun the earth; a murderous pack of nuns stalks a pair of Halloween revelers…

What frightens us, what unnerves us? What causes that delicious shiver of fear to travel the lengths of our spines? It seems the answer changes every year. Every year the bar is raised; the screw is tightened. Ellen Datlow knows what scares us; the seventeen stories included in this anthology were chosen from magazines, webzines, anthologies, literary journals, and single author collections to represent the best horror of the year.

Summation 2010 by Ellen Datlow
At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow
Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver
City of the Dog by John Langan
Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Walls by Brian Hodge
Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge
When the Zombies Win by Karina Sumner-Smith
–30– by Laird Barron
Fallen Boys by Mark Morris
Was She Wicked? Was She Good? by M. Rickert
The Fear by Richard Harland
Till the Morning Comes by Stephen Graham Jones
Shomer by Glen Hirshberg
Oh I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside by Christopher Fowler
The Obscure Bird by Nicholas Royle
Transfiguration by Richard Christian Matheson
The Days of Flaming Motorcycles by Catherynne M. Valente
The Folding Man Joe R. Lansdale
Just Another Desert Night With Blood by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
Black and White Sky by Tanith Lee
At Night When the Demons Come by Ray Cluley
The Revel by John Langan

In the third volume of this annual series, famed editor Datlow brings together 17 stories published in 2010 in a variety of sources both popular and obscure. In Cody Goodfellow’s “At the Riding School,” a veterinarian makes a strange house call at a girls’ school. Catherynne M. Valente’s “The Days of Flaming Motorcycles,” one of several zombie stories, sketches the life of the only living woman among the undead horde. John Langan uses self-conscious narrative to twist the werewolf story in “The Revel.” The usual lists of honorable mentions and award-winners and a thoughtful assessment of the field will encourage readers to seek out the year’s other notable horror stories. As always, Datlow delivers a top-notch anthology with a nice balance of new and established writers. –Publishers Weekly

But it’s diversity, not sameness, that defines the 140,000 words of well-crafted, ambitious fiction that accompany Ellen Datlow’s usual thorough summary of the year in horror fiction. Fans of subtle, thoughtful horror probably already know it, but The Best Horror of the Year is a series not to be missed. –The Stars at Noondasy

Datlow has created a series that must be viewed as essential for serious horror fans. Volume three will help you get your fright on as you eagerly await her 2011 picks. –The Monsters we Deserve

Dark Horse once again teams up with Hugo and Bram Stoker award-winning editor Ellen Datlow (Lovecraft Unbound) to bring you this masterful marriage of the darkness without and the darkness within. SUPERNATURAL NOIR is an anthology of original tales of the dark fantastic from twenty modern masters of suspense, including Brian Evenson, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Nick Mamatas, Gregory Frost, Jeffrey Ford, and many more.

For fans of horror, noir, fantasy, crime, and the short fiction format.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Ellen Datlow
The Dingus by Gregory Frost
The Getaway by Paul G. Tremblay
Mortal Bait by Richard Bowes
Little Shit by Melanie Tem
Ditch Witch by Lucius Shepard
The Last Triangle by Jeffrey Ford
The Carrion Gods in Their Heaven by Laird Barron
The Romance by Elizabeth Bear
Dead Sister by Joe R. Lansdale
Comfortable in Her Skin by Lee Thomas
But For Scars by Tom Piccirilli
The Blisters on My Heart by Nate Southard
The Absent Eye by Brian Evenson
The Maltese Unicorn by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Dreamer of the Day by Nick Mamatas
In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos by John Langan

In this anthology edited by Ellen Datlow, the gritty realism of noir embraces the nightmare imaginings of supernatural horror in order to offer up sixteen stories rich in style, shadows, and psychological complexity. –Green Man Review

For fans of horror open to noir, and readers of noir who can handle horror, this is a fine anthology, coherent, atmospheric, and compelling. Two kinds of bleak, cynical, stylish fiction at once: what’s not to like? –The Stars at Noonday

Twenty of today’s favorite writers explore the intersections between the living, dead, and undead. Their vampire tales range from romantic to chilling to gleeful—and touch on nearly every emotion in between.

Neil Gaiman’s vampire-poet in “Bloody Sunrise” is brooding, remorseful, and lonely. Melissa Marr’s vampires make a high-stakes game of possession and seduction in “Transition.” And in “Why Light?” Tanith Lee’s lovelorn vampires yearn most of all for the one thing they cannot have—daylight. Drawn from folk traditions around the world, popular culture, and original interpretations, the vampires in this collection are enticingly diverse.

But reader beware: The one thing they have in common is their desire for blood. . . .

Table of Contents

Introduction by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow
Things to Know About Being Dead by Genevieve Valentine
All Smiles by Steve Berman
Gap Year by Christopher Barzak
Bloody Sunrise by Neil Gaiman
Flying by Delia Sherman
Vampire Weather by Garth Nix
Late Bloomer by Suzy McKee Charnas
The List of Definite Endings by Kaaron Warren
Best Friends Forever by Cecil Castellucci
Sit the Dead by Jeffrey Ford
Sunbleached by Nathan Ballingrud
Baby by Kathe Koja
In the Future When All’s Well by Catherynne M. Valente
Transition by Melissa Marr
History by Ellen Kushner
The Perfect Dinner Party by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black
Slice of Life by Lucius Shepard
My Generation by Emma Bull
Why Light? by Tanith Lee

This collection masterfully conveys the complexity of the concept, with nary a clunker to be found, and is a must-have for any vampire fan out there. –Realms of Fantasy

This collection of vampire stories features offerings by many big names in YA literature, including Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Kathe Koja, Melissa Marr, Cassandra Clare, and Holly Black. Teens still entranced by vampires will relish the diversity of formats (Gaiman’s entry is a song-poem) and tones, which range from darkly humorous to sweetly poignant to flat-out gore. –Booklist

By all accounts, 16-year-old Maya Blair is a typical teen-age high school student. She hangs out with her best friend Lucy, has a turbulent relationship with her ex-boyfriend Stuart, and works at her family’s diner – the main restaurant on the island of Coronado Bay.

But Maya has an extraordinary secret – she can see, hear, and talk to ghosts. And when spirits are near her they revert back to solid form. She is what her deceased grandmother Elsa calls a Seer.

For years, Elsa was the only ghost Maya knew. But that changes when the century-old wreckage of the Black Lady, a ship that capsized in Coronado Bay’s waters, is raised from the ocean floor and placed on display in the local museum. During a school tour of the Black Lady exhibit, Maya meets Blake Hennessy, a young, fair-skinned boy to whom she is instantly attracted. Shortly thereafter, a sensual, gothic young man named Gavin Hamlin crosses her path, and she is equally smitten. Her feelings bloom before she realizes they are both ghosts – Blake, the kind-hearted spirit who cares for Maya’s well being, and Gavin, the dark wizard who thirsts to finish the evil task he longed to complete 100 years before.

To accomplish his nefarious plan, Gavin has to be human again. And for that, he needs the blood of a virgin witch. In his mind, Maya is the perfect candidate. Now it’s up to Maya, Lucy, and Blake to save Coronado Bay and the world from destruction. But time is running out, people are dying, and Gavin’s powers are growing.

Things were so much simpler when all she had to worry about was a date for the dance.